Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine

Overview

Is life worth living? This question, the title of one of William James’ essays, is one James himself struggled with in his life and work. Trained as a doctor, James never practiced medicine. Perhaps due to his own struggles with depression and melancholy, he was drawn to philosophy and psychology. That interest turned into a serious academic career. Known as the father of American psychology, James is the founder of functional psychology and cofounder of the James-Lange Theory of Emotion. He also wrote an important work on the psychology of religious experience. James’ philosophical work forms some of the seminal thinking on pragmatism—the belief that usefulness, not truth, should be the focus of philosophical ideas.

Given as the Ingersoll Lectures in 1897, Human Immortality seeks to argue for the possibility of immortality based on the transmission theory of cerebral action. James argues, against the materialism of his contemporaries, that the brain may not be the source and end of consciousness. Rather, consciousness may pervade all of reality. In this way, when a human dies, his consciousness remains in that larger sea of consciousness (James makes clear that it could be many larger seas, i.e., he denounces pantheism).

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Key Features

Provides a thorough look at James’ ideas about consciousness and death

About William James

William James (1842–1910) was born at the Astor House in New York City. His father, Henry James Sr., was a Swedenborgian theologian. His godfather was poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. James studied science at Harvard University and enrolled in Harvard Medical School, earning an MD in 1869. In 1878, he married Alice Gibbens, and in 1882, he became a member of the theosophical society. James suffered various forms of depression throughout his life. Though he studied medicine, he was drawn to philosophy and psychology. He began writing on these subjects and eventually began teaching at Harvard. He held professorships of both philosophy and psychology, ending his career as emeritus professor of philosophy in 1907. Medical historians consider him the 14th most eminent psychologist of the twentieth century.